A/N - as much as I hate split POV chapters, I felt that this was needed to get closer to a reunion. As always, thank you immensely for the continued support. Please continue to review, as I really do get inspired by all the comments.
10 days.
It's been 10 days since Piper heard from Alex and she's just about at the end of her rope. She's filled up Alex's voicemail, and resorted to just calling and listening to Alex's outgoing message and replaying tiny videos that Piper has on her camera during their travels.
It's not enough.
It's not enough to make Piper feel better. Or calmer. Or comfortable. Even as she's laying in the bed that her and Alex share - it doesn't make Piper feel anything except for longing. Painful, excruciating longing for her love.
'Please, Alex. Just call me and tell me you're alright.' Piper makes a silent plea as she brushes over Alex's face in the video. She's laughing. They're happy. Walking together at night in some city, hand in hand. Maybe Rome, maybe Spain - it doesn't even matter to Piper anymore. Everything was background to Piper. Some of the most beautiful cities and places in the world, and all Piper could think about was how everything paled against Alex's beauty. Everywhere they went, Alex would point out specific buildings, places, artifacts and ruins and start telling Piper their history.
"How many times have you been here, Al?"
"Just once. Why?"
"I feel like you know everything. Like, you could be giving a tour."
"Or maybe I just have a lot of time on my hands, so I read Frommer's." Alex fidgeted with her glasses like always when she was feeling vulnerable. "Excessively.'
"You are so adorable when you're telling me things that nobody else knows about you." Piper slides a pieces of hair behind Alex's ear.
"Shut up." Alex says laughing. She pulls Piper close and kisses her temple. "Although, please continue about how adorable I am."
Piper could only focus on Alex's mouth as it rattled off all the information she had read or learned about previously. Piper, enraptured by Alex's enthusiasm, would half-heartedly listen and glance when Alex pointed and gestured to certain things to further her points. 'Jesus, what I wouldn't give to hear another random fact from her. I would really just listen to her read the goddamn dictionary at this point.'
It's the quietness that's getting to Piper. Her and Alex could happily be together, in comfortable silence, but it's the lack of any noise in the apartment. When she asks Alex if she wants pancakes. When Alex has the spectacular way of spinning any little comment that Piper makes into a sexual one. The way that Piper misses the light snoring from Alex after she's had a few too many drinks the night before.
The fact that Piper is in their apartment surrounded memories and fragments of Alex and their relationship is a slow torture for her. Everything reminds her of Alex. 'Maybe I should have stayed at Polly's like Alex asked. Maybe she knew that every inch of this place has a memory for her too. Shit.' Piper thought to herself.
It was another night that Piper ended up crying and letting the emotional exhaustion take her to sleep.
During her days, she's helping Polly really get this soap business underway, fielding questions about why she is so quiet, and so sad. Piper becomes great at putting on her mask to cover everything up. At night though, once she enters the apartment, Piper lets the facade slide off of her and the real emotions roll in.
Night after night, it's the same way. Piper realizes that she's drinking too much, too often. She's falling deeper into a dark place. The more days that pass, the darker that place becomes and the harder Piper feels that it'll be to get herself out of it.
Diane called yesterday. "Have you heard from Alex at all?"
"No." Piper tries to stifle the tears that are threatening by the mention of Alex's name.
"Oh." There's a long pause before Diane sighs. "She's alright, Piper."
"God I hope so,"
"Call it motherly instinct. I feel it. I just know she's okay."
Piper doesn't say anything. She's biting her palm to keep herself together for Diane's sake.
"Do you want to have lunch, Piper? I promise that I'll tell you more embarrassing stories now that Allie won't be able to shut me up."
Piper lets a small smile form across her face. "Yes. I'd like that."
Piper makes the drive to see Diane, and when she arrives, notices that Diane was prepared. She's hauled out quite a few photo albums and a box full of Alex's baby things.
They spend hours going through album after album, decide to order lunch in because neither of them want to stop thinking or talking about Alex.
"...And that's how she ended up with 3 broken toes, and briefly, chlamydia." Diane finishes as both her and Piper were nearly hysterical laughing.
Piper reaches into the box, full of mixed toys, clothes, and items from Alex's childhood. She pulls out a stuffed elephant. It's a little tattered, and has some sewed scars over its body from years of use and stuffing loss. It was still soft, and carried the smell that was uniquely Alex.
"Oh god. I completely forgot about that. Allie brought that everywhere." Diane brought Piper a refill of her coffee. "She would constantly babble about elephants. How she wanted to ride one. She made me bring her to the Circus in the City just for the elephants. One year, I surprised her. I couldn't afford the tickets to the Circus, so I brought her into Manhattan to watch the elephants walk through the Holland Tunnel through the streets, to Madison Square Garden. She cried that day, she was so happy."
"She did, you know."
"Did what, honey?"
"Rode an elephant. In the last couple of weeks, we were in Cambodia." Piper starts looking through her phone for the specific picture. "She was so happy. I didn't want to ride because I was berating her about animal rights and how they get trained with electrocution." 'My usual petulant behavior.' Piper finally finds the picture on her phone and shows it to Diane. Alex is absolutely beaming in the photo. On top of the grey animal, mouth opened wide and with both her hands high in the air, as if to say 'Look, Ma! No hands!' Diane covers her mouth.
"But she absolutely insisted on riding one. She never mentioned that this was a childhood dream of hers. She couldn't stop chattering about it, or smiling the rest of the trip there. Even when I lost her shoes later in the week, and a waiter spilled red wine all over her white shirt. It didn't matter." Piper laughed. "She even named the elephant."
"Petunia?" Diane asked.
"Yes!" Piper held the stuffed animal up. "I'm guessing this is the original Petunia?"
Diane nodded and wiped a stray tear that was sliding down her cheek.
"Take Petunia with you, Piper. So that Alex has it when she comes home."
Piper glances down at the stuffed animal in her hands and runs a finger over the soft fabric. "Okay."
'Please come home, Alex. I can't live with just memories and this toy. I need you.'
"Diane, do you have anything stronger than coffee?"
Diane smiles. "Of course. And didn't I tell you to call me mom?"
'Am I really fucking alive?' Alex touches the Hamsa still residing on her neck as she looks out the window. 'I don't know which God I should thank. All of them. Christ, everything hurts. But, Holy fuck. Maybe this did come in handy. Remind me to thank you every fucking day, Pipes.'
Jay walked into the private room that Alex had been residing in the last few days. As he approaches, she's still staring out the window. She barely acknowledges his presence.
"The fuck day is it?" Alex growled through her wired-shut jaw.
"You know, you've ask me this every single day."
Alex just glared at Jay. 'If I could kill you right now, you fuck.'
"It's a Tuesday. Does that matter, Doll? Jay answered with a huff.
Alex grimaced at the pain radiating in her body.
"And how many days have I been here?"
"4? 5? I've lost track myself. You needed some time to recover. Believe me."
"I need. To get Home." Alex manages to get out.
Alex struggled to sit up and Jay thankfully helped her. She took stock in what she could see. Her arm in a cast, bruises littering her body, her midsection wrapped tight for a couple broken ribs.
"Do you have a mirror?"
"Really? Nobody's worried about your lack of eyeliner, Alex."
"Let me fucking see." 'Let me see what that piece of shit did to my face.' Alex winced as she heard her voice - it didn't seem familiar to her. As if not being able to fully enunciate her words made her sounds like some kind of monster.
Jay held up the mirror off the wall in the clinic.
Alex could see now the black rings under her eyes. The cuts by her hairline. The dark purple and sickly green bruising on the sides of her face. The swelling all around. With her functioning hand, she pulled her lip down and was met with the steel grey metal wiring her broken jaw shut. Alex turned her head away and felt the salty sting of tears flowing.
A nurse knocked on the door bringing a cup and straw to the bedside table.
Jay looked down at the tray and pointed, "Your lunch is here, Madame."
"The fuck?" Alex is resigned to keep her words to a minimum to alleviate some of the pain.
"Your jaw is wired shut. You can't chew. So you're basically on a perpetual milkshake diet. Great for the taste, bad for the hips." Jay smiled.
"Will you let me out."
"I said I would, Doll. Believe me, if you wanted to stay, you'd be my right-hand girl. Hell, I'd give the whole operation over to you. You're a fucking master at this shit. However, since I've now eliminated Kubra and Ayden. And Kubra took care of Fahri - Maya and I are the only ones who know your involvement in this. And I'm willing to let you go. You allowed me the opportunity to take this whole thing over. This is my gift to you."
"GIFT?! I ALMOST DIED!"
"Okay! You're right! I didn't mean to put you in that much danger. I didn't know that he was going to do that. Kubra made it very clear that he just wanted to talk to you."
"With fists!" Alex's good arm shot up to touch the side of her face. 'Let's try not to rip your jaw out, Shithead.'
"Okay, easy there Tiger. You have to believe me when I said that I didn't know. I didn't intend for this to happen, Alex. Honestly. And I meant every word I said. I want you to stay, but I'm not going to stop you from leaving. I have no problems with me, you and Maya running this whole thing. We'd be fucking shitting money, that's how great it'll be. But I understand. You want Pip-"
"Don't say her name." Alex cut him off and fought through the pain. "You don't get to."
"Okay, you're right. I'm an asshole. I put you into that situation. And for that, I apologize. Profusely. But I also got you out of that, no?" Jay searched emerald green eyes for a shred of hope that Alex was going to forgive him.
"Won't kill you." Alex mumbled.
"Sorry, Doll - what was that?"
"I. Won't. Kill. You." Alex spoke each word as clearly as she could. 'He did save my life. And got rid of everyone in the process so I won't be followed. Isn't that what my plan was? Isn't that why I had the gun? Just let him go. It doesn't matter anymore. Once you can stand, you can get the fuck on a plane. Make it back home to Piper. If she will even want to see me when I look like fucking roadkill. But I fucking survived. Like a cockroach. I'm a fucking cockroach. Great. One step higher than garbage.'
"Good to know."
"Need phone."
"Yeah, there's a problem with that. Your phone was wrecked. I thought I had salvaged it, but looks like one of them had yanked the card out and crushed it. I'm sorry."
'Fuck. How am I going to tell Piper I'm alive?'
Jay put the straw in the shake for Alex, and held it up to her lips.
"I can do it." Alex growled again.
"I know. I want to help you." Jay explained as Alex tentatively fit the straw in her mouth. "I know you want to get home. Doctor says you should be alright to travel in 2 days."
'2 more fucking days. Sweet Jesus, thank you.'
"I booked your flight already. Plus car service and service in the airport. You're not going to be able to walk very far or carry your bags."
Alex grabbed Jay's hand. "Thanks."
"It's nothing. You gave me a whole organization."
"You gave me a chance to see Piper again."
Jay just smiled. "You'll get home, Doll. I'll see to that. Although, I can't do anything about your mouth being out of commission for a while." He laughed.
Alex made a small smile. It felt good to allow herself to relax a little.
"Want to go outside for a little? This room is so dreary."
Alex nodded. 'Outside, yes. Closer to freedom.'
"Goodnight Pipes. See you tomorrow. Try and get some sleep, okay? It's really catching up with you." Polly said as she hugged Piper before leaving.
"Yeah, I'll try." Piper quietly replied.
"She'll be home soon. I just know it." Polly gave a little squeeze to Piper's arm.
Piper nodded and grabbed the knob of the door as Polly exited.
Piper had made dinner for the two of them to go over some more business planning for the soap venture. They are tentatively, but affectionately, calling it "Popi."
After the other day with Diane, Piper had brought Alex's Petunia home and kept it in the bed with her. Piper was running out of Alex's shirts to wear, fearing that washing them would lose the smell that was the only solace that Piper had at night in bed alone.
Just as Piper had crawled into bed she heard a soft knock on the door. 'Fucking Polly. What did you forget now?!' Piper padded to the door and reached for the knob.
"What now Polly?" Piper half-yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Maybe this is a bad time to say hi? But I seem to have forgotten my keys." A husky voice replied.
Piper's eyes shot open and before her, stood the one person that she'd been desperate for - her Alex.